A clampdown on uninsured drivers to be launched this autumn could help cut premiums for other motorists, ministers will claim this week.

Drivers who do not bother insuring their cars are known to be involved in more than 23,000 deaths and injuries on the roads every year, adding £30 to the average premium for other road users. Yet until now they could only be prosecuted if police actually caught them in the act of driving.

Ministers will this week unveil plans for a new offence of keeping a car uninsured, which will allow police to match insurance industry databases against DVLA records and identify cars which do not appear to be covered. The owners will receive warning letters and if they do not take out insurance will be fined £100 and may have their vehicles seized and crushed even if they have never left the garage.

Jim Fitzpatrick, the road safety minister, will meet insurance industry representatives this week to discuss how the plans could be implemented. A Department for Transport official said that if the number of uninsured drivers was cut by a third it would save insurers £764m over five years which could then be used to keep premiums down.

Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, said she hoped that the proposals would reduce the misery and expense to other motorists. 'A small hard core of drivers who refuse to insure their cars push up premiums for responsible motorists and kill or injure thousands of people each year. We're determined to get these antisocial drivers off our roads,' Kelly declared. 'These tough new powers will leave uninsured drivers with nowhere to hide.' However critics will argue that the fine proposed under the new system is less than drivers could face if caught on the road and that cross-checking databases will not catch all offenders because its searches uncover whether specific vehicles are insured - they may not be insured for the driver at the wheel.

Earlier this month Theresa Villiers, the Tory transport spokeswoman, accused the government of having 'repeatedly sent out the wrong message to irresponsible drivers who flout the law and dodge paying insurance' that they could get away with it.

Around two million cars, or about 6 per cent of those on the road, are thought to be driven uninsured. Research suggests that these rogue drivers are 10 times more likely than ordinary motorists to be convicted of drink driving, six times more likely to drive a car that is unsafe and four times more likely to be convicted of driving without due care and attention.

They are estimated to kill 160 people and injure 23,000 others every year. Many are driving vehicles that are not taxed or registered, or are themselves disqualified from driving.